


Help Wanted 2: Electric Boogaloo

by astrangebird



Series: Growing and Changing [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Relationship Advice, Shovel Talk, well just a little one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 18:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18580276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrangebird/pseuds/astrangebird
Summary: Caduceus goes to Nott with a few questions that likely only she can answer.Or, Nott learns that she's stuck in the middle of these two dumb boys.





	Help Wanted 2: Electric Boogaloo

“Miss Nott, do you think we could have a little chat?” Caduceus asked as he carefully lowered himself to the ground next to her with two cups of tea in hand. She startled at his quiet arrival and instinctually scrambled to put a few trinkets and baubles back in her pockets before gingerly accepting one of the cups, eyeing him suspiciously as he got himself comfortable on the dry and brittle grass.

“What’s on your mind, Mi-Mister Clay?” She seemed nervous about his question, he wasn’t sure why yet, perhaps she was still put off by how much larger than her he is. He did his best to hunch so that they were closer in height.

“I was wondering if we could talk about Mister Caleb.” A simple enough thing to say, but none the less he felt a little nervous quiver in his stomach.

Nott looked him over with a ferocity that she reserved mostly for when she’s trying to ferret out information from some poor soul with not enough to give. Or when she’s examining treasure, whichever was happening that day.

_Huh, that’s strange, I wonder what she’s looking for…_

“What about him?” She prods, glowing yellow eyes never leaving him as she takes a cautious sip of tea.

“Hmm, well, a few things actually…” Caduceus trails off a bit, looking off towards the rest of their camp thoughtfully. 

The group was traveling again, setting up camp near a small cluster of trees on this rather barren expanse of Xhorhasian desert, there was maybe an hour until sunset. Jester was doing what she could to pull together some grasses and leaves as a makeshift bedding for the moorbounders while Fjord and Beau began unfurling the bedrolls inside the circle of the would-be dome that Caleb was in the process of casting. Yasha was a little ways away, she seemed to be feeling a bit unsettled by the open plains and was pacing a perimeter around their camp with her eyes scanning the distant horizon for threats. He and Yasha apparently have both been feeling a bit restless as of late, though he suspects for very different reasons. 

Caduceus turns back to Nott and finds her still staring, as she tends to do when she’s looking for something, “How has he been doing lately? He seems to be in much better spirits than before.” 

“I-I suppose he’s doing well. He’s been doing a lot of reading which always makes him happy…” Her voice quiets a bit as she thinks of what to say next, “Being away from the Empire seems to have taken quite a bit of weight off his shoulders.”

Nott finally looks away from him and over to Caleb, making his final circuit around the perimeter of the bubble with his book in hand. Jester and Beau are walking around the outside of the circle in front of him, mirroring his steps and hand gestures and laughing loudly at themselves. Mister Caleb is doing his best to ignore them, keeping his eyes down on his work and speaking his incantation slowly without fault as he always does, but the gentle smile he wears betrays his amusement. Caduceus feels the familiar fluttering of wings flapping against his ribs at the sight. 

“He does seem to be smiling more, I like that.” Caduceus says, almost more to himself than to Nott.

Caleb steps back toward the center of the dome and with a light _whoosh_ it expands out away from him, a faded tan to match the dry brush around them. Beau looks ruefully at Jester before she steps toward the bubble and smacks into its apparently solid surface. He hears her shout HEY! while rubbing the impact off her arm while Jester giggles loudly and exclaims Caleb’s name, drawing out the vowels. But a moment later Mister Caleb pokes his head out of the bubble and sticks his tongue out at Beau before offering her his hand and pulling her through now that he’s made her wait. It’s nice seeing everyone having fun, especially Mister Caleb who very rarely allows himself to indulge in such simple pleasures.

Caduceus looks down to Nott again and she’s wearing a face with many more layers to it than he expected. She looks so pleased to see Caleb being playful with their strange little family, but there’s an undercurrent of sadness, a longing for something he can’t name. It almost feels a little invasive to have seen it.

“I feel like he’s not going to need me anymore, Caduceus. That-that-that someday he’s going to pull away because I won’t have anymore answers for him or he won’t need me to protect him.” There’s a quiet vulnerability to Nott’s scratchy voice that he has rarely heard from her. She looks up to him with those big golden eyes, searching him still for something he can’t place, a secret question hiding just out of sight.

“You love him very deeply, don’t you?”

“Like he’s one of my own.” She replies with no hesitation.

“I don’t think that you need to worry about him, Miss Nott. I believe that Mister Caleb cares too deeply for you to just abandon you. He likes to pretend that he’s a loner, but we all know he cares.” Caduceus places a comforting hand on her back, his long fingers crossing from shoulder to shoulder. 

They hold each others gaze for a long few moments, and Caduceus tries to convey his openness to Nott and her searching eyes. She’s still holding something very close to her chest, some kind of question for him, and from her pleading words it’s probably about Caleb. Suddenly she relaxes, her gaze softening and tension leaving her back before looking away towards the dome. 

_Perhaps she found it._

“What else were you going to ask about, Mister Clay?” Her voice sounds calm again, she looks pleased with whatever she’s thinking now.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” Caduceus had almost forgotten that he had an ulterior motive. He takes a drink from his tea which has cooled quite a bit, subtly hiding the coy smile forming on his lips thinking about what he was going to ask about.

“I’m rather inexperienced in these matters, and you know him so well, I was wondering if you would be able to tell me if you think that Mister Caleb would be… receptive to a more uh… romantic relationship,” Caduceus swallows around his suddenly dry throat, “With me?”

Nott’s thin lips curl into a fang filled smile as she continues to look out across the plains. Nott can have a good poker face when she wants to, but this was not one of those times. There’s only a thin veneer between him and the truth written all over her smug little goblin face. She knows the answer and that excites Caduceus.

“I don’t think he would be opposed.” 

_Ah, so that’s what it was._

“Really?” Caduceus studies her as the swarm flies in circles around his chest. 

“Yeah, I think you could give it a shot. Wouldn’t hurt. Worst that could happen is he says no, right?” Nott’s words skitter quickly out of her like a squirrel through the trees. She downs the remnants of her tea before popping up from the ground, at her full height she’s almost as tall as Caduceus while he sits. She quickly crowds into his space, grabbing his empty hand in hers, squeezing a few of his fingers tight and staring him down with an unexpected intensity.

“Don’t you hurt my boy, Mister Clay.” She whispers in a very serious tone. Something close to a cold shiver washes down his spine looking into her very focused eyes, as if he’s being sized up by a caged beast that would happily eat him if given the chance. Caduceus lets a lazy smile crawl across his face as Nott continues to watch him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Miss Nott.” 

“Great! I think we had a good talk and we should probably turn in for the night, don’t you think?” Nott says a little too loudly before bounding off toward the dome, not giving him the chance to respond. He feels a little stunned, everything that Nott does is too fast for him most of the time. 

But, his question was answered and the swarm is fluttering so fiercely inside his chest he feels he might burst and a near giddy laugh slips out of him. What should he do now? What _does_ one do when they feel this way? He doesn’t know the next step and he doesn’t really care, there’s plenty of time to figure it out. 

He adjusts himself to stand and he hears the delicate sound of porcelain hitting the rough grass in front of him. Nott’s deadly quick fingers had managed to carefully balance his second teacup on his knee with him none the wiser.


End file.
